FACE RIDER @ MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels)

June 18-21, 2025
Presented by MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels) 
Location: 3680, rue Jeanne-Mance,  Montréal (Québec)

Created by Fran Chudnoff  in collaboration with multi-media artist Driftnote and fashion designer Angela Cabrera, FACE RIDER builds on the iconography of the hermit, the hog, and the himbo. The performance is a queer indie sleaze swamp dump celebrating gender deviance, glittery resurrection, and the chaotic joy of togetherness. It reimagines the unsettling nature of aspirational imagery through the gloomy melodies of midwest emo, confessional lyrics, and the aesthetics of the unresolvable mundane.

“It’s shocking and original in its aesthetics, it’s layered and intentional in its cultural references, and it’s entertaining as hell.” Intermission Magazine

FACE RIDER @ MAI

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CREATORS

Fran Chudnoff

Fran (Creative Director) also known as Franz (they/them), is a Tkaronto based millennial, with a BFA in performance, and paying rent as a multidisciplinary artist. They are a dancer, dance maker, video artist, photographer, and a beginner at 3D sculpting and digital illustration. Across mediums, their work is in conversation with post internet aesthetics, gender deviance, and shaping a “social aura” through aspirational imagery. Their most personal and urgent project these days is sharing as many meals as possible with their Lola, Yolanda. In 2021, Fran completed a 3-year Emerging Artist residency at Dancemakers Centre for Creation with Driftnote where together they began the initial music and audio research for – “FACE RIDER”.
Fran’s and Driftnote also collaborated on the film “ALL THINGS GROW” in 2018, which is an official selection in the Regards Hybrides’ permanent Collection of Canadian screendance works. It is one of fifty-five short and long films produced between 1980 and 2020 that represent a wide range of cinechoreographic approaches.
Fran is currently performing and touring in Andrew Tay and Stephen Thompson’s “MAKE BANANA CRY” – a subversive runway featuring a parade of body politics prepared to trouble the Western gaze.

Driftnote

Omar David Rivero, (Composer/Sound Design) who goes by the alias Driftnote, is a Venezuelan-born musician and multimedia artist now residing in Tkaronto. Their artistic focus revolves around improvisation, interactivity, and the creation of audio and visual installations, along with expertise in 3D imaging. Rivero delves into inquiries about materiality and embodiment, particularly in the context of examining systems, cultural erasure, and identity within the African/indigenous diaspora. His research is dedicated to reevaluating methodologies related to image creation, archives, and self-portraiture.

Angela Cabrera

Angela Cabrera (Costume Designer) is a Latinx multidisciplinary artist born and raised in Colombia. Their design work is inspired by the spaces unattended by man and ruled over by natural evolution. Fashion is primarily their focus, evoking an enigmatic spirit that experiments with alien forms. They are a celestial soul that came from the forest and creates from the shadows.